Career Pathways

Many working Americans require upskilling to compete and thrive in the 21st Century workplace and attain their educational and career goals (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2013). “By 2031, 72 percent of all jobs nationally will require postsecondary education and/or training.” (Center on Education and the Workforce, 2023) , economic growth depends on the development of adults as well as older youth.

NCTN guides the design and implementation of career pathway programs that prepare adults to enter and advance in occupations that provide a living wage. We provide tools and resources and facilitate essential partnerships across adult education, workforce development, postsecondary education, and business and industry to ensure that the pathways align with local opportunities for employment and advancement in quality jobs.

Expertise and Impact

Integrated Education and Training (IET)

NCTN provides technical assistance to state and regional initiatives to design, implement and scale integrated education and training (IET) , a promising model for accelerating the pathway from training to employment for adult learners. We develop and facilitate training on effective IET programming for administrators, instructors, and college and career navigators in adult education, workforce development, and career and technical education. 

Scaling career-focused program innovations 

NCTN has been a catalyst in developing career-focused programming that inspires learners to persist in their education and training, once rare in adult education and now widely embraced. NCTN has trained hundreds of adult educators in more than twenty states to integrate opportunities for learners to explore careers and set individual career and education goals into curriculum and instruction. . In addition, NCTN provides technical assistance to state adult education administrators to further disseminate and scale implementation of career-focused programming. 

NCTN has also led the development and expansion of the role of career navigators and career coaches to foster student persistence and success in career-focused programming . NCTN continues to provide statewide training to hundreds of career navigators and coaches in more than 25 states training to support the statewide scale-up of career pathways initiatives.

Strengthening Workforce Development Collaboration

NCTN works at the intersection of adult education and workforce development and facilitates collaboration in a variety of ways. We have led statewide initiatives to integrate and scale technology solutions across adult education, workforce training, and American Jobs Centers to improve regional, cross-sector career pathway coordination.